


into the dark

by litra



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ben getting kicked out of the Jedi, Bounty Hunters, Fix-It of Sorts, Force traditions, Gen, Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Podfic Welcome, The Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-24 00:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16629068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/pseuds/litra
Summary: When Ben runs away from the Jedi order he encounters someone no one expected.





	into the dark

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea where this idea came from except that Nano has my brain running on fumes.

He hurts. That’s how he knows he’s awake. There is pain over most of his body, centered in his shoulder, his side, his arm. It’s bad enough that he reaches for the force, for the light.

That’s when he remembers.

He remembers Luke standing over him lightsaber ignited. He remembers the look on his masters face, fear and desperation. Ben remembers acting instinctively. He’d grabbed his own lightsaber and attacked, or defended, he didn’t know. He remembers reaching for strength, and finding anger.

He remembers running.

It was all just fragmented memories. Stealing one of the ships. Jumping to hyperspace without even registering the Destination. Ending up on a back water world and crashing more than landing. He remembers someone, the locals maybe, finding him. He remembers lashing out at them.

He doesn’t remember where he is, or how he got here. He's laying on a flat hard surface. Through it he can feel the familiar rumble of engines.

Master Luke tried to kill him.

Ben hasn’t even opened his eyes, but he knows it’s true. That, out of all his jumbled memories stands out in star fire neon. That, and how the dark side had wrapped around him in the desperate hours of his escape.

All his life he'd been taught to push it away, to fight it. When he was running he'd been too distracted to even try.

Was that what it was like for his grandfather? Was that what it was like for Master Anakin Skywalker? Master Luke never told him anything about his grandfather, not directly at any rate. Over the years, between him and his mother, Ben had picked up a few of the facts. He learned more from the holonet. There are still plenty of old propaganda videos floating around if you knew where to look.

His grandfather had been a great man. His grandfather would never have tried to kill him.

“I know you’re awake.”

Ben slowly opened his eyes. He's in a cell. It's durasteel and barely bigger then the bunk he's laying on. There's a force shield to his left, separating him from the person who had spoken. The woman wasn’t human. She had bone white skin, a naturally bald head, sharp angular features. She wore tight fitting purple-blank body armor that crisscrossed her form in layers of straps, and left her arms bare. Ben's eyes caught on the hilts just visible at the small of her back. 

Lightsaber hilts. He could feel the force in her, and it radiated with the dark side.

"Who are you?" His voice came out if a croak. Ben distantly wondered how long he'd been out. HE hadn't thought about food since before his escape.

"You first." 

Ben scowled.

"I'm not the one in cuffs," she pointed out.

Ben hesitated. He didn't feel like Ben Solo anymore, if he ever had. His father had run off. His mother had sent him away. His teacher had tried to kill him. So who was Ben Solo really, other than a dead man. Far better to be someone else.

The woman put a hand on her hip, "I could just upload your bio-signature and find out that way you know. Staying silent wont get you any favors." 

"Are you a sith?"

The woman, narrowed her eyes, and tilted her head. She considered him for a long moment before speaking, "The last sith died with the empire."

She was a sith. He had somehow managed to escape from the Jedi in one piece and the force, or his grandfather's ghost had led him to a new master. 

Ben gritted his teeth as he sat up. There were bacta-patches on his shoulder and his arm was in a brace so his balance was a bit thrown off. It didn't stop him from sliding off the bunk and falling to his knees before her.

"My name was Ben Solo. I am the grandson of Anakin Skywalker, Lord Vader. Please teach me."

"Skywalker," she hissed. For a minute she just looked at him, then she gestured and the force shield dissipated. One of her lightsabers came to her hand and she ignited it in a practiced motion. For the second time in recent memory Ben found himself with a blade at his throat. Luke's had been a bright clear blue, but this one was the red of hot embers. He met the woman's eyes and waited.

"Your grandfather tried to kill me on more than one occasion, Tell me why I shouldn't kill you in vengeance?"

Ben swallowed, trying to think. He'd always heard that Darth vader was unstoppable, if this woman, had fought him and survived, more than once... Had she been an inquisitor, or someone who had run from the empire?

"I-- wouldn't taking me on as an apprentice be a better vengince then a swift death?"

"I could always make it a slow death."

Ben swallowed again. He waited. 

"You have some training, I can tell. Who was your master boy?" She asked after several tense silent minutes.

"I was at the new jedi temple, under Master Luke Skywalker."

She sneered, "more skywalker brats."

"He cast me out. Tried to kill me. Please." Ben licked his lips. He didn't know what else he could say to convince her.

She flipped her lightsaber off, and used the hilt to tilt his head back looking at him. "Do you really think you could be a sith?"

"Yes master, I know the force led me to you," he answered without hesitation. This was clearly the path the force had led him down.

"Then you're not ready."

She stepped back, the force shield re-ignited and she strode out of his sight without a backward glance.

Ben clenched his teeth, and his fists. He slammed his rage into the floor ignoring the pain in his arm. After a moment he took a breath, reaching for the peace and calm of the light side as he'd always been taught. He'd barely touched the force before he drew back. He wasn't a jedi anymore, would never be a jedi again, so there was no need to release his emotions into the force. His emotions were his own. They had given him strength through his escape. 

Instead he took his anger and fed it, thinking about all the times Luke had dismissed him or told him he just needed to meditate on a problem. He remembered the day his father left, and how his mom had become so distant and cold afterwards, until she sent him away all together.

It hurt... so... much.

At some point an astromech came in with water and an ration bar, so apparently he wasn't going to starve. Other then that he was left alone. He'd been left alone at the temple a lot too, so it wasn't exactly new. 

The astromech came back about five hours later with another ration pack. Ben ate, used the rudimentary fresher in the corner and went back to trying to figure out what to do next. 

He could feel the force still. The woman hadn't bothered with inhibitors, but connecting to the living force didn't do much. The ship he was on was either in hyperspace or far enough from any inhabited world that he couldn't sense it. The unifying force was as always, frustratingly vague. He could feel the woman as a presence nearby, but there didn't seem to be anyone else on the ship. 

The woman felt dark but as the hours passed and he examined her presence he was able to pick up more detail. There was a purpose to her. It was subtle, like a wide slow river that looked still on the surface until you tried to cross it. She was older then he'd thought, and strong. She would be able to teach him a lot... when he finally convinced her.

The woman came back the next morning, or at least Ben assumed it was the next mourning. He'd spent enough time on starships to know it was all relative. She stood on the other side of the force shield with her arms crossed.

"Well there aren't any bounties on you Ben Solo. It appears the only way for me to turn a profit on you would be ransom you back to the Jedi."

Ben clenched his fists, "no." He wasn't going back. She could try to send him back but he'd run away again. He'd escape and then he'd find her and... and make her regret it... somehow.  
"No? I don't think you understand how being a prisoner works. You sit here and I do what I want with you."  
No. He was done sitting quietly. He wasn't going to let her just throw him away like Master Luke had, like everyone had. He didn't know when he'd stood, but he found himself on his feet. Energy was pouring off him.  Luke would have scolded him for that, for his lack of control, for letting his emotions run wild. The bunk was rattling, the thin blanket flipped back like there was wind in his cell.  
The sith tilted her head and raised a tattooed brow, "Is that all? You really are just a child throwing a tantrum."  
He wanted to show her how wrong she was. He wanted to hold his lightsaber to her throat. He wanted her to choke on how wrong she was. His hand came up, gripping at the air. She'd regret not putting him in a force inhibitor!

For a moment her hand came up, touching her throat. He closed his hand into a fist, growling under his breath Her skin was too pale to tell if she was losing color, but he liked to think she was. His grandfather had killed people this way, Darth Vader--

Her hand came down in a slice through the air. Ben rocked back at the force of it, and it wasn't even really directed at him. How strong was she? Well she was breathing again, so strong enough to brush off his attack at least.

"Better, but you lack focus," She gestured. Ben watched in shock as the force shield dissipated. 

"Lesson one," she went on, "A Jedi let's the force direct them. When you use the dark side, you take what you want." She turned towards the door.

"Wait, are you going to train me?"

She shrugged, "I guess we'll see, won't we."

Ben stepped out of the cell. He wasn't sure if he should kneel or not. That seemed like the kind of thing a sith master would ask of their apprentice. Except she hadn't said he was her apprentice yet. If he was going to take what he wanted, he wouldn't do it on his knees.

"Tell me your name." He wasn't sure if it was a question or an order.

"Asajj Ventress. I was trained by the nightsisters of Dathomir and taught the ways of the Sith by Lord Tyrannus. Of all the sith I alone survived the Clone War. Even the mighty Vader could not kill me in his day."

"You will teach me." This time it was definitely an order.

She smiled, it was full of teeth. "Your next lesson will be to retrieve your lightsaber." She patted her belt, and sure enough his lightsaber hung next to her two blades. 

Ben looked around, judging the space. He didn't know her fighting style, or what force tricks she might pull out. It wouldn't be easy.

Ventress watched him, and nodded. "Just be wary. if you damage my ship boy, I'll take it out of your hide." She turned, and walked through the door without once dropping her guard.

Ben sucked in a breath, and slowly let it out. He could still run, but no. This was the path he was meant to walk. He had found a teacher, and even if it wasn't lessons as he knew them, he would learn.

He stepped forward through the door, following his new master.

 


End file.
